Urban Wonders

Leduc Country Lights is the biggest outdoor light up event in the Edmonton region outside the Alberta Legislature grounds. It’s bigger than ever this year both donations to the Leduc Food Bank and visitors are up. Truly the ultimate winter wonderland. Please obey signs and stay on designated paths to keep this tradition going! To get here, head West at Leduc Common (Exit 517) from QE2, turn left on Range Road 260. Keep driving til…

Rust Magic 2016 has spraypainted new public murals across the city in a span of several days. The graffiti arts festival aimed to add 17 new murals to the urban landscape, and has already completed 11 in its opening weekend. This weekend, additional murals will be added to The Pearl, Chez Pierre Cabaret, and Quasar Bottle Depot. While the paint is still fresh, a video is not yet available. However, we’ve put together an Edmonton Mural…

Update: The 2016 Sheep Leaving Parade is Labour Day 2016. Family events begin at 10am, with the parade at 11am. The City of Fort Saskatchewan has an annual Sheep Parade to say goodbye to the sheep for the winter. The sheep were brought into the city in 1992 to cut the grass where it was difficult to bring mowing equipment along the river bank. Today it is its major tourist attraction of the year. Watch…

Here’s an enlightening history of lights on the Edmonton skyline. While ATB Lights was a one time even (for now), it continues three decades of Edmonton’s experimentation with light to brighten up the city. After all, the city at latitude 53 does get up to 17 hours of evening darkness in the winter. Here’s an enlightening history of lights on the Edmonton skyline. Last week, Edmonton’s skyline had a unique lights show when ATB Place was lit…

With spring just arriving in Edmonton, everyone is just dying to go out and take some refreshing photos with family, friends, and that special someone. In Edmonton, the golden window for tree blossoms around the city has been between May 18 to May 28. Note that these are tree blossoms, as opposed to bush blossoms, which started blooming early in 2016 early on April 19, so be prepared for any week now. Here are some…

Bob Fedina is a carpenter by trade and he hand-crafted most of the decorations at the residence, aka Christmas At Bob’s. He made mechanical waves of light, a circling cuckoo nutcracker turnstile, dancing soldier, light tunnel, and flamingos with a mechanical alligator. To top it off, he built a crane for his house in order to install a 3 storey tall snowman. His construction started after Halloween and opened on the first Saturday of December….

Learning can become a costly affair if you’re into local history and wish to visit museums to increase your knowledge. Luckily, there’s plenty of museums in Edmonton which are free admission. Here is a compilation of free museums in Edmonton. If any are missing, please comment below. University of Alberta Museums Collections You can call this the Smithsonian Institute of Edmonton. The University of Alberta Museums is a group of roughly 30 different museums and collections,…

The medicine wheel garden opened this spring by a local Cree elder to celebrate the aboriginal story of the community. Located on the west side of the Shaw Conference Centre behind the Edmonton Welcome Centre, the garden invites everyone to become part of an ongoing narrative. Native communities have in the past used the medicine wheel for ceremonies and rituals, blessings, cleansing, healing, and guidance. The new garden hopes to offer a peaceful space for those…

These are the Urban Waterfalls of Edmonton, including the city’s best kept secret. From an historic Great Divide Waterfall higher than Niagara Falls, to one out of thin air, to hanging cascades downtown, to the final hidden wonder, these waterfalls of River City will blow your mind. We’ll start with the Great Divide Waterfall. Originally planned for the 78 commonwealth games, the half a million dollar landmark was opened September 1, 1980 in time for…

As cities around the world enter a new renaissance in urban planning by making them pedestrian-friendly, they face huge challenges in what to do with roadways which are no longer needed. Edmonton has found a fun way to revamp an unnecessary roadway and it’s as simple as child’s play. For a pilot project for this summer, the alley on the North West corner of 104 St and Whyte Avenue will be closed to vehicular traffic…